Colorful phone booths allow for a space for meetings and calls. Since Pandora has no private offices, even for its CEO, the phone booths are crucial private communication. Some of the rooms are reservable through an online system while others are used on a first-come, first-served basis. Wallpaper in the phone booths was designed by Pandora's own creative team. less

Colorful phone booths allow for a space for meetings and calls. Since Pandora has no private offices, even for its CEO, the phone booths are crucial private communication. Some of the rooms are reservable ... more

Pandora Colorful phone booths allow for a space for meetings and calls. Since Pandora has no private offices, even for its CEO, the phone booths are crucial private communication. Some of the rooms are reservable through an online system while others are used on a first-come, first-served basis. Wallpaper in the phone booths, such as this one featuring animated prints of the Beatles, were designed by Pandora's own creative team. less

Pandora Colorful phone booths allow for a space for meetings and calls. Since Pandora has no private offices, even for its CEO, the phone booths are crucial private communication. Some of the rooms are ... more

Photo: Bruce Damonte

Image 15 of 28

Image 16 of 28

A view of the Pandora offices in Oakland.

A view of the Pandora offices in Oakland.

Photo: Pandora Byline TK

Image 17 of 28

Pandora's Oakland office features many open spaces but no private offices, even for the CEO.

Pandora's Oakland office features many open spaces but no private offices, even for the CEO.

Photo: Bruce Damonte

Image 18 of 28

Employees have a meeting at the Pandora Media Inc. offices in Oakland, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014.

Employees have a meeting at the Pandora Media Inc. offices in Oakland, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014.

The Ad Product Management Team at Pandora is, ( l to r) Jonathan Eccles, Jack Krawczyk, Blair Coffman, Bob Schembri, Chris Irwin and Eric Hoppe, at the headquarters of Pandora in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday May 8, 2014. Internet music company Pandora this week began testing a new way to generate revenue, through Promoted Stations. Shoe maker Sketchers is suggesting a station that plays music that's good for runners, like "Eye of the Tiger". It's the first time Pandora has tried to make money from its lists of suggested stations, which have long been a part of Pandora's service. less

“The Park” is Pandora's largest and most unconventional meeting space. The circular room can fit up to 50 people. Designers purposely built the room to be open and with no doors so that every employee in the office can feel the buzz of an exciting project demonstration. less

“The Park” is Pandora's largest and most unconventional meeting space. The circular room can fit up to 50 people. Designers purposely built the room to be open and with no doors so that every employee in ... more

Photo: Bruce Damonte

Image 28 of 28

Office Space: Pandora perks include free gadget vending machine

1 / 28

Back to Gallery

At first glance, Pandora’s Oakland headquarters looks like that of any other tech giant.

There is the requisite open layout. There’s Foosball and air hockey in the cafeteria. Employees zip around on scooters with stick horses attached to their handlebars.

But a closer inspection reveals something deeper about the company: It draws cultural and design inspiration from the music it delivers.

Its meeting rooms are inspired by musicians. One series of rooms — John, Paul, George and Ringo — is a nod to the Beatles, with wallpaper of their faces. Another set is named Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme after the Simon & Garfunkel album.

Nike to Investigate Workplace Behavior, Announces President will ResignWibbitz

McDonald's flips its arches for Women's DayEuronews

Fearless Girl artist reflectsFox5

How Stephen Hawking Outlived His Prognosis For So LongBuzz 60

Snap to Layoff Over 120 EngineersWibbitz

This Is The Best Restaurant Chain in AmericaBuzz 60

'Curly' the Curling Robot Loses Game to HumansRuptly TV

“Music is certainly the foundation for how we think about our space,” said Joe Drucker, director of real estate at Pandora. “From there we have a dialogue with our architects, contractor and the team at Pandora working on the project. There aren’t any rules or procedures. They know our culture and they just have fun with it.”

The Internet radio station moved into floors 15 and 16 of 2101 Webster St. in 2010. It’s recently expanded to floors six and seven as well. There are now almost 800 employees spread throughout the 100,000-square-foot office.

Monitors near the meeting rooms show footage from Pandora’s Whiteboard Sessions, in which musicians perform acoustic sets in front of the tech world’s most ubiquitous piece of wall decor. Other screens display company-wide analytics: how many listeners Pandora has in each state and how many “thumbs up” the songs are getting versus “thumbs down.”

Floors six and seven have two big common spaces: the VIP Lounge and Venue. Both are lined with booths where employees can work or eat. A vending machine near Venue is stocked with headphones, track pads, Apple mice and other gadgets. Pandora employees can swipe their badge, select an item, and grab it from the machine. All the goodies are free.

Related Stories

Also free are drinks and snacks in both common spaces. But there are no hot meals — Pandora encourages employees to buy lunch at Oakland restaurants.

A large green print of “Fictitious Bands from TV & Film” was added to the office in February. The Brady Bunch is on there, along with Buns on the Run from “Saved by the Bell,” 2gether from the MTV show of the same name and the Bravos from “Kim Possible,” among others.

Visitors enter and leave Pandora’s office through the seventh-floor reception desk, which has an “on air” sign and a stuffed panda (employees have been known to refer to each other as “pandas”). A station created by Pandora’s curation team — like “hipster BBQ” or “90s hip hop” — plays in the background.

“Music plays in our common areas during the business day, including our reception area, so that it is the first thing people hear when they enter our offices,” Drucker said.